The place to go for business support and advice

FOLLOWING the merger of two successful local Growth Hubs, a new Growth Hub serving the South East Midlands region is up and running.

The new Growth Hub service from the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) offers all small and medium-sized businesses throughout the area a single place to go to access the business support they may need.

Working with many local and national business support providers, both public and private, the Growth Hub is a free impartial gateway service which acts as the single point of entry to access business support.

The Gateway Advisers work with businesses to diagnose any barriers or challenges they may be facing that could be inhibiting their growth. Following this diagnostic process the gateway will be able to introduce them to the specialist support and expertise to help them succeed and thrive.

James Elliott, Business Adviser at the Growth Hub, said: "The Growth Hub receives a huge number of enquiries from clients all at different stages of growth. The aim is always to support businesses on an individual basis depending upon their specific needs. There are no pre-requisites for clients - we will do our best to help all businesses regardless of their level of previous success, size or the sector in which they operate.

"Our team regularly receives information-based enquiries such as legislation requirement queries and can also offer ongoing support regarding marketing, accessing finance, and managing growth to name but a few. The Growth Hub's core services structure ensures that wherever your business is based within the SEMLEP area you will have access to the support of your own dedicated business adviser. Business adviser support is offered in the form of face-to-face meetings, telephone support and the provision of information by email.

"The type of businesses that the Growth Hub can support is not governed by any form of criteria, and the gateway team would welcome a discussion with any business looking for guidance and support with growth, or to help overcome a business barrier."

The Growth Hub is operated by SEMLEP, the government created business-led partnership between the public and private sector.